[Ray3768]

Many thanks to everyone for the encouraging words. Today is the day! I'm picking her up later this morning. Since the new owner can't take delivery of my existing car until then end of the month, I'm looking forward to taking pics of both cars sitting next to each other. Last night's monsoon has moved out so it should be dry for the ride home, and most importantly it will be in the mid to upper 50's so the tires should be reasonable happy. I made a full throttle blast through first and second gears on the ride home from work last night which will be the last fun I have until the new car break-in period is complete. Don't get me wrong, familiarizing myself with the new car will be fun, just no high RPM pulls for a bit.


One factory option I forgot to mention is the red painted calipers. Does anyone know if it's difficult to keep these clean? I know my existing car can turn the wheels black in a two weeks. Do these calipers clean up easily?


JoeCamaro444, we're close in age. I turn 54 in three days. Yep, I'm fat, ugly, and old. '88 IROC, that's awesome! I loved my 3rd gen. They are great cars. My '88 T/A was a daily driver and needed to be reliable, so there were no significant mods. I did put on a Flowmaster muffler for a proper exhaust note and a Flaming River Industries (I think that's who made it) solid billet aluminum steering rag joint to tighten up the steering.



No worries about hijacking this thread. That's how we all learn. I was unaware of the RGB footwell lighting. Sounds pretty cool, I might just check that out.



Looks like it's sunny out today so hopefully I get some good pics to post up this evening. I'm gonna pull my shit together and head off to the dealer shortly. Woo, this is exciting!


-Ray

[arpad_m]

Wheel and caliper cleanliness depends on your brake pads. The stock Ferodo HP1000/1s are astoundigly good at braking, most people stick with them even on the track, but they also dust heavily; if you replace them with PowerStop Z26 pads, you'll have a bit less brake performance and much, much lower dusting. It's a personal preference

By the way, 54 is nowhere NEAR old, my man, don't talk about yourself like that. Pull it together, do things you enjoy and drop some weight for even better acceleration in your new 2SS

[Ray3768]

arpad_m,


You got me all wrong. Us South Jersey/South Philly guys are relentlessly self deprecating and well versed in ball busting. Many of us, anyway. :-) I am actively dropping weight..down to 218 lbs, was 225 lbs a month before. I'm getting it done. Bad blood work results will do that for you unless you're suicidal. Currently eating a diet I never even thought possible. Getting there...slowly. Anyway, I did manage to pick up the car today. Initial thoughts are this, coming from a nice 5th gen:

The bad:

Seats are uncomfortable. Either my fat ass breaks it in or my fat ass gets broken in.


Damn, this thing is small! (again, coming over from a 5th gen,)

Gray is not my favorite interior color. Gonna be a bitch to keep clean.



Panel fitment it typical GM. Not terrible, not great. I'm not real happy that the hood to fender gap is visibly larger on the driver's side vs the passenger's side.


Interior materials are not real inspiring. Overall, I feel that the 2012 SS is built better.





The good:


Clutch and transmission are so much better. Easier to drive. I can't wait to delve into the specific component specs to see what's different..but the difference is immense.


The suspension is...what's the weird word they use...taught. Firm enough to be good, but not abusive. Yeah, that sums it up. This thing is gonna corner well. Can't wait to break it in. I loves me some turns.



Exhaust system. BLOWN AWAY! The best of all worlds. Just damn! I tried active rev match...and just DAMN! Those who know, know. Glad I stuck to my guns on this option. If only I had that in the 2012 car, yeah it wasn't a thing yet.



That's all I got for now. I'll post some more crazy thoughts and better pics going forward. Here's the pic I've been dying to post:


-Ray

[arpad_m]

Congratulations, this blue paint color is beautiful

The seats will break in and your (nicely shrinking ) butt will have a better time once that happens.

Hood hinges are 4-way adjustable, sometimes line workers in the factory didn't do the best job. I tweaked mine for an hour and a half until it was perfect.

I still remember the ride in a neighbor's 2013 2SS, and unless GM assembly quality has gotten much worse since 2018 (when I bought my 2SS new), there is no way you can seriously think the 5th gen was built better... IMO the materials are fifty-fifty, GM did cheap out under the seat line, but the padded door panel elements, the knee pads, the HVAC controls and the RGB interior lighting are definitely nice touches. I like the gauge cluster, too, the 5th gen cluster felt like a 1990s throwback, I understand why, but it was time for a more 21st century redesign.

You will love how the sharply car corners and how stable it is under acceleration once you're past the break-in. I recommend better tires than the horrible stock Goodyear runflats, although I know these things are pricey. I have Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, they are an order of magnitude better in terms of noise, ride quality, wet traction and look, and their dry traction is also better than stock.

[The Chief (tm)]

Ray, congrats. Funny $0.02 here, when you said that "gray is not [your] favorite color: my interior is all-black and although I don't really mind it, whenever I see a pic of the gray (or, heavens to Betsy, the white) I think, "WOW!"

Also think it goes great with the blue, which is awesome in itself. And yeah, side-by-side pic = neat-o. Enjoy!

[Ray3768]

arpad_m,

When I stated that I felt the 5th gen was built better I should have been more specific. I was referring to the interior materials. It reminds me of my wife's 2017 Malibu Premier. I'm cool with it. It's a Chevy not a Mercedes.

The Chief (tm),

I'm sure the gray interior will grow on me. I'm just used to black in the old car.

I'll post up some more pics later this afternoon when time allows. I'm thinking and early afternoon cruise is in order. I NEED to hear that exhaust again. It's intoxicating.

-Ray

[Ray3768]

Time for some more pics:

[JoeCamaro444]

Originally Posted by Ray3768

Time for some more pics:

Sharp! Congrats 🇺🇸🤘🏼

[bigd1276]

Very nice color! I traded in my 2012 Imperial Blue Metallic 2SS for my 2017 HyperBlue 2SS and to me there was no comparison. Major upgrade.

[Ray3768]

bigd1276,


Yeah, I'm seeing that now. I took her out to run some errands today and had the opportunity to hit a long, sweeping downhill off ramp. Not too fast, but just damn! I thought the 2012 could corner well with the addition of Z28 bits and slightly trick alignment. The 6th gen is on a different level. Yeah, I'm loving it. The transmission/shifter/clutch is much easier to drive...what's the deal with this? What is physically different? I heard mention of dual-mass clutch but I haven't delved into the tech specs yet.


-Ray

[JT6Speed]

Looks really great. The interior adds such a unique contrast too.

I love the shot of the rear with the 5th and 6th gen together. You can see the evolution. I'm glad they went back to the original quad taillights after 14-18 had the single units.

[Ray3768]

JT6Speed,

One thing I plan to do is add some black Lloyds floor mats which will add further contrast and eliminate the soon to be discolored gray floor mats. I'm thinking the ones that say "Camaro" on them since the seats already have an "SS" emblem on them.

I so agree with you about the quad tail lights. I was never a fan of the 2014/2015 5th gen refresh tail lights.

-Ray

[Whoomba]

I really like the taillights my 14 RS has but I like the taillights my 24 has even better. On the floor mats, I like this loop pile mat that’s in the CE. It would seem to hold up well.